Work meeting of the presidents and judges of the supreme administrative courts of Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic

On May 3 and 4, 2026, a trilateral meeting of delegations from the supreme administrative courts of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland was held in Brno under the title “The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights in the Case Law of Administrative Courts.” Slovakia was represented by Pavol Naď, President of the Supreme Administrative Court, and Vice President Marián Trenčan; Poland was represented by Jaczek Chlebny, President of the Supreme Administrative Court; and the hosts were Karel Šimka, President of the Czech Supreme Administrative Court, and Vice President Barbara Pořízková.

During the presentations and discussions, the participants in the trilateral meeting agreed that an important benefit of administrative courts for citizens is that they are on the front lines of human rights protection. However, it is important to understand that even when adopting European case law, principles cannot be applied mechanically and across the board; rather, each case must be assessed individually.

Participants in the trilateral meeting of the supreme administrative courts of the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Photo © The Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic

In her contribution titled “The Application of Article 5 of the Convention in the Case Law of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic,” Judge Elena Berthotyová of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic addressed the protection of personal liberty in the detention of foreign nationals and the current case law of the The Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, which is based on the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

She emphasized that the case law of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic indicates that the detention of a foreign national may be used only as an exceptional measure that must serve a genuine and achievable purpose. If there is no realistic prospect of deportation or the state does not act actively and effectively, detention becomes arbitrary and unlawful. According to the judge, the Supreme Administrative Court’s case law confirms that Article 5 of the Convention is not merely a formal norm but a real guarantee of the individual’s protection against state arbitrariness. Administrative courts thus play a key role in protecting fundamental rights and guarding the boundary between lawful intervention and disproportionate restrictions on personal liberty.

Vice-President of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, Marián Trenčan, addressed the topic of the application of Article 6 of the Convention in tax matters at the trilateral meeting, emphasizing the limitations on application arising from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the impact of these limitations on the decision-making practice of the Supreme Administrative Court.

Marián Trenčan and Elena Berthotyová during a discussion at a trilateral meeting of the supreme administrative courts of the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Photo © The Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic

During the second panel of the meeting, administrative court judges from the three countries also discussed the rights of transgender people. During the presentation, specific reference was made to the provisions of Czech law regarding gender reassignment in comparison with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which states that if an individual changes their gender, member states should respect this fact in accordance with the convention. Nevertheless, the Czech Supreme Administrative Court concluded that progress in this area should not be rushed, but that society must arrive at this “progress” on its own.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the leadership of the Slovak, Czech, and Polish Supreme Administrative Courts expressed their hope that contact between these courts in this format would continue and contribute to the discussion of current issues in administrative justice.